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Timely thread as I was just looking at the newest batch of the these that just came in. Was hoping there had been some mods/improvements by Lionel. I also seem to recall a few posted here that they had decent results even without removing the window. But that was sort of hit or miss.

Tempted to still order (I was going to get the Lionel Lines version) but also have reservations.

If anybody has one of the new releases and can post a quick review it would be appreciated.

The issue is the clarity of the plastic window.  I think it varies.  If they had used glass like they do on the Legacy locomotives they would not have had an issue. When I took my window out and held it up to look through it, it was like foggy glass, so it was no wonder why the picture was so blurry.  I took the window out and then it was super clear.  it needs to be optically clear plastic or glass.

I don't see any downside to removal of the plastic window. I did three of mine and they are quite sharp. I  got better at taking them apart as I progressed...and GRJ suggested I take the drawbar off the trucks to get better access to the screws which I should have in the first place. Once you have the screws out, you have to reach in and unplug the wire to the lighting. Then it's apart. I take the light strip out and remove the cupola to remove the window and also cutaway the inside of the cupola side tabs so I can replace the light strip and plug it in last before putting the cupola back on. The ridges on the cupola side tabs prevent removing the cupola with the light strip installed.

I had a couple of duplicates, PRR and CSX, which I didn't touch yet and was selling them in the forum here. Still have the CSX if anyone wants it. The camera picture is pretty ok without having to take the plastic window out. But I probably would anyway. It's just so much sharper with out the window and no flare from bright light sources.

richs09 posted:

Does anyone know whether these cameras have an auto-focus or are they fixed focus?  If the former, I wonder if the window might be affecting the auto-focus, especially if the window is 'foggy' or slightly scratched, which would then compound the blurry image.

It's really simple. Lionel chose to put the camera behind an inexpensive plastic window that causes the image to be blurry. Some windows are worse than others as you might expect, but in my observations, none of these plastic windows belong in front of the camera lens.

cjack posted:

I don't see any downside to removal of the plastic window. I did three of mine and they are quite sharp. I  got better at taking them apart as I progressed...and GRJ suggested I take the drawbar off the trucks to get better access to the screws which I should have in the first place. Once you have the screws out, you have to reach in and unplug the wire to the lighting. Then it's apart. I take the light strip out and remove the cupola to remove the window and also cutaway the inside of the cupola side tabs so I can replace the light strip and plug it in last before putting the cupola back on. The ridges on the cupola side tabs prevent removing the cupola with the light strip installed.

I had a couple of duplicates, PRR and CSX, which I didn't touch yet and was selling them in the forum here. Still have the CSX if anyone wants it. The camera picture is pretty ok without having to take the plastic window out. But I probably would anyway. It's just so much sharper with out the window and no flare from bright light sources.

Downside? I agree there's no downside but just bothers me that the process to remove the window (as you described it) is a bit much to ask of the customer for a ~$100 caboose. And as I recall from some of the other threads on these, several folks had quite a time getting these apart and back together. If you could simply pop out the window I might be more inclined to buy one of these.

Still on the fence.

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